Toilets

I CAN not Believe I Have not written about the toilets in japan yet! People For most it's the first Thing They report back about.   What's all the HYPE about? Squatty potties and Lots of buttons!

There are three types of toilets in Japan, yes three. Generally you only see two in public facilities and they are polar opposites. There are squatty potties which as their name implies require squatting to use.

They are traditional Japanese toilets and are most common in parks, temples, and grocery stores. They are everywhere and often in the stall right next to a high tech toilet.

 These are the other option you will see most often. They are toilet bowls toilets we are used to seeing in America but have lots of additional features.

"Western Style" toilets as They Are called Have a SLEW of buttons and options. They Have options for the SEAT Heating, Playing a flushing sound (with volume Control), bidet (location and strength Adjustments) and sometimes a Blow dry option.

Very rarely will you find a simple no frills / no buttons toilet in public.

At first all the buttons seam daunting especially when the most important part is flushing the toilet. Occasionally the option to flush the toilet is on the button pad but more often it is on the tank and looks like this.

 It is never on the wall with a speaker next to it.

I made this mistake once. I pushed the innocent looking green button expecting a flush and instead set off an ear piercing alarm that not only notified everyone in the bathroom there was someone in supposed distress but also everyone in park I was in. People literally came running to help out the unfortunate woman who rang the alarm. Luckily I made it out of the bathroom and informed my rescuers that everything was fine. We were approached later and asked if we heard about the foreigner who rang the alarm and I had to explain that it I was indeed the stupid foreigner. We all had a good laugh about it but needless to say i am now very careful about which buttons I push in the bathroom.

Oh and lets not forget the bathroom slippers. It is uncool / unhygienic to wear regular shoes in most bathrooms, so they provide slippers to wear for the three steps to and from the toilet.

This is the bathroom at school. See all the slippers? the kids all take of their indoor shoes, put them in their cubby, put on the bathroom slippers, use the toilet, return the slippers in a orderly fashion and then leave the bathroom to wash their hand and put their indoor shoes back on. Its an ordeal! we have what are considered training toilets, they are shaped like squatty pottys but are raised form the ground so the kids don't have to actually squat but get used to having their legs a far apart.

It is something that you get used to really fast but it is super weird at first. If you are visiting Japan any time soon I suggest doing some extra squats and practicing quick shoe removal.